


so nice to have someone you can’t let go

by green_piggy



Series: bond writes for fe femslash 2020 [2]
Category: Fire Emblem Heroes, Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Soen no Kiseki/Akatsuki no Megami | Fire Emblem Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn
Genre: Dancing, F/F, FEFemslash2020, Femslash February, Femslash February 2020, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Mild Hurt/Comfort, but just to be safe, elincia ridell crimea fanmail, i looooOOOOOVE ELINCIA SO MUCH, just... GALS... GIRLS... LADIES... WOMEN... SO SO GOOD, like it is milder than a chicken with no sauce at nandos, nephenee is the disaster farmer lesbian we don't deserve but we got anyway, no don't worry about it, sorry i'm just rambling in the tags i love you tag wranglers you're all doing amazing, there is so much fluff it's making my teeth hurt, yes i have three different femslash tags in three different locations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-12
Updated: 2020-02-12
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:21:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22671694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/green_piggy/pseuds/green_piggy
Summary: Elincia and Nephenee share a somewhat non-traditional dance together.
Relationships: Elincia Ridell Crimea/Nephenee
Series: bond writes for fe femslash 2020 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1630966
Kudos: 16
Collections: FE Femslash February 2020





	so nice to have someone you can’t let go

**Author's Note:**

> the natural response to when you're stuck on one femslash fic is to pop out 2k for an entirely different fic, and an idea you literally had never considered until that very moment, in two hours, right? right??
> 
> it's near 2am as i publish this so please forgive me for any typos etc - i'll proofread stuff for the 100000th time when my eyeballs aren't dying!
> 
> this fic was inspired by multiple things; my intense, undying love for elincia; nephenee being an absolute sweetheart; their dancing alts in heroes; the prompt 'festive' for day 11 of femslash month, which was the date i wrote this fic on! "bond it's past the 11th now" I Am Trying So Hard Okay
> 
> i love women!! women love women!!! i hope you enjoy this fic!! :3
> 
> (yes, elincia's dancing alt is from rd, and nephenee's is from por, but for the sake of this fic please just consider them to be the ages they are in rd - many thanks!)

They must have been attempting this particular Meliorian dance for at least an hour, but Elincia didn’t show a single sign of frustration or impatience at the sounds of booming, discordant footsteps. If anything, when Nephenee glanced up from tripping over her dress’s skirts yet again, Elincia only looked fond, her eyes warm and the corners wrinkling with amusement.

“I’m sorry, Your Majesty…” Nephenee brushed off some dirt she knew wasn’t actually on her dress; she just couldn’t bring herself to look up. “I’m tryin’ my darndest, I really am, but… I just ain’t cut out for all this fancy dancing.” What she would give to be at Ohma right now, heaving out straw for the horses with sweat trickling down her back and the suffocating strench of manure in her nostrils. She knew that it was far from pleasant, but it always reminded her of home. In this strange little world of Askr, all they had for a farm were a few tiny patches of land far out from the castle grounds. It was alienating.

She startled and made a strangled noise in the back of her throat when Elincia’s hand took her own. She wiggled her fingers - her skin was gentle, but it had tell-tale calluses in the webs between her fingers hinting of many years with a sword - under Nephenee’s palm, folding them in-between her fingers. Self-consciousness burned Nephenee’s ears at the sight of her fingernails, all of them bitten down to the skin - and then, a strange feeling of relief when she saw Elincia’s own fingernails were in an even worse condition than hers. To know that the _queen_ of her country indulged in the same nervous habit that Nephenee herself had never been able to fully shake...

Elincia tugged her up, forcing her to make eye contact. Elincia’s own eyes were a similar shade to the earthly soil back home, the best kind that looked soft and ripe after a day of light showers.

“I must confess,” Elincia began, leaning in as if she was telling a great secret, “that I do grow tired of noble dances. I know we’re expected to, but…” She stretched out her free arm with a small laugh. The fan in her hand clipped open and shut. Nephenee watched the long sleeve of her yukata ripple and crinkle in a breeze she couldn’t feel. “This is hardly the typical attire.”

“That was a gift, yeah?”

“Indeed!” Elincia’s face brightened. “Although, sadly, I’ve yet to master this culture’s dance…” She laughed again, this one rather self-conscious. “I’m not very good at balancing on my own two feet, much less _dancing._ Riding a pegasus helps to conceal that from people, but…”

“Aww, me neither.” Nephenee cracked a grin. Elincia was still holding her hand, which was starting to be a bit awkward, but it also felt far too pleasant for her to let go. Her stomach felt like it had weird butterflies backflipping in it. “Be a bit of a sight, though, seein’ ya toppin’ off ye poor pegasus.”

An ungraceful snort tore itself from Elincia’s lips before she could stop it - not that she seemed particularly keen on doing so. “Oh, goddess, could you imagine!” She laughed again, letting out another snort. “What a fall it’d be, too!”

“Ye needn’t worry - I’d catch ya!” Nephenee burst out. There was a second of silence, where Elincia just - looked at her, with an amused smile. Then Nephenee realised just _what_ she had said, and desperately wanted her helmet to shrink into. Yes, she’d had one modified for the last dance festival she’d been to, but she didn’t _think_ she’d need it when she was just around Elincia. Now, though, she silently rued herself, glaring at it from where it was sat smugly on a bench nearby, taunting her.

“I know you would,” Elincia said. Nephenee looked back to her. Somehow, her face had softened even further. Her fingers squeezed Nephenee’s hand. “How about we… just give up on these stuffy dances. Show me one from Ohma. I’ve never seen how you dance!”

“Eh…” Nephenee blushed. _Again._ She hated how she got flustered over anything and everything. “It ain’t much, to be honest… just dancin’ in a circle. Usually over a campfire.”

But Elincia seemed utterly enraptured. She rested a fist over her chest with a dreamy sigh. “Oh, I can just imagine it. Dancing as the sun sets and the stars start to come out, with people’s laughter ringing in the air…” Her smile was wistful. “How I wish all of Crimea could be like that.”

“Well…” Nephenee scruffed her boot against the ground awkwardly. “That dream prob’ly ain’t as far away as ya think.”

With a shake of her head, Elincia visibly brightened. “You’re right. And now isn’t the time to ruminate.” She smiled. “Thank you, Nephenee.”

And she was blushing _yet again._ “D-don’t think nothin’ of it,” she muttered, rubbing her neck. “I could… teach ya a mite of my dancing. Not that it’s really dancing.”

“I’d love that!” Elincia clapped her hands together and giddily stepped in front of Nephenee, her sandals flopping against the ground. The long green - tassels? Nephenee wasn’t quite sure _what_ they were, exactly - of her yukata twirled in the air like blades of tallgrass behind her.

“Your outfit’s dead pretty,” Nephenee said. “Like a sunrise.”

Elincia beamed. “Isn’t it just?” She gave a little spin on the heels of her feet with jovial laughter. “Hoshido has such beautiful clothing. It’s a shame I haven’t yet mastered their traditional dance. I feel a bit undeserving.”

And, oh, how Nephenee could relate to that. Standing here in her outfit lovingly handmade by the people of Ohma, with at least three skirts and more ribbons and puffy shoulders than she’d ever previously encountered in her life, made her skin scratch with the urge to rip it all off. But she couldn’t do that to the people she’d grown up with. Even if it made her scratch her head at _why_ she had such a beautiful outfit, a bunch of people had thought her worthy of it, and they couldn’t all be wrong.

“Well, it suits ya perfectly. And you just gotta keep on practisin’.”

“Very true! I didn’t learn how to ride a pegasus in a day - or even in a month.” Her voice dropped to a stage whisper. “...Or a _year.”_ Looking slightly bashful, Elincia cleared her throat, her hands resting loosely atop one another in front of her. “But we’ll do that dance another day.”

“‘We’?”

Elincia smiled. “Well, it _is_ a dance that requires a partner.”

“You wanna have _me_ as your partner!?”

If Nephenee was blushing before, it was nothing compared to what her face must have looked like now. She doubted that even Cymbeline’s flames could compare to the current heat in her cheeks and ears and head and - just about _everywhere._

“N-not Ike?” she squeaked. “Or Queen Micaiah, or Princess Leanne, or—”

Elincia’s hand wrapped around her own, her face torn between a smile and a frown. “No, Nephenee. _You._ Remember when we fought together?”

“A-ah… yeah, but…”

“You’re a wonderful person. I love spending time with you.”

“Y-Your _Majesty—”_

“Just ‘Elincia’ when it’s only the two of us.” Elincia smiled. “Please.”

She said those words with a face of such quiet yet resigned hope, of someone who’d never really had anyone address them as an equal. Nephenee couldn’t relate to that, but, not for the first time, she was grateful she had no part in royalty or any of the nonsense that came with it.

“Sure thing, Elincia.” Her accent was harsh on the first letter of her name, and Nephenee hated how it sounded coming from her lips - yet Elincia broke out into a large grin. There was not a hint of strain or tightness in it, not like so many of her smiles lately. Nephenee allowed her heart to lighten at the sight.

“So how does it go?” Elincia asked. “Your dance?”

“Ah - well…” Nephenee bit her lip and glanced down at her dress, at its layers upon layers upon _layers,_ and frowned. “Please ‘cuse me, Your Majesty. You might wanna cover yer eyes. Just gimme a moment.”

“I might want to— _goddess!”_ She winced, her hand shooting up as Nephenee tugged up her skirts and scrunched them up past her knees. The outermost layer remained untouched, but the bottom two were not so fortunate.

“I promise I’m wearin’ shorts!”

“I-I’m glad to hear it!” Elincia did not remove her hand from her eyes.

With her tongue sticking out of the corner of her mouth, Nephenee worked away. She shoved her skirts underneath the shortest one, taking care not to accidentally tug it too high, and pulled them out as far as she could. Then, she tied them in a huge, messy bow and tucked it underneath. The ends of the bow tickled the backs of her knees, but it was a welcome relief to feel cool air nip at her bare legs and not a flood of fabric for her to trip over. She flattened out the remaining skirt and tried not to snort or laugh at poor Elincia. She had her head twisted as far away as possible, her hand still glued over her eyes.

“I’m decent now!”

Slowly, Elincia peeled her hand away. Even more slowly, she turned back. She gave a small laugh, the noise fond. “I should have guessed.” Her eyes travelled down, and she broke into louder laughter. “Of course you’re wearing your boots! I was wondering why you were making such a racket earlier.”

“S-sorry…” Nephenee wiggled her toes in the offending boots. They were the exact same pair she typically wore with her halberdier outfit while in the battlefield. “But I couldn’t move in ‘em heels for the life of me! Kept trippin’ over absolutely nothin’!”

“Weren’t they slip-on shoes?”

“They all be the same to me,” Nephenee grumbled. “I know these aren’t exactly nice-lookin’, but they let my legs get movin’ a lot better than those frilly little things.”

“I’m not criticising you!” Elincia insisted, her hands held up. Nephenee knew, deep inside, that she hadn’t been, that she never would have done such a thing, but it still washed away some of her nerves. “Never change, Nephenee.”

Plenty of people said her name, of course, but the way Elincia said it, like it was something so _important_ to her, made Nephenee’s ears warm. “Aww… shucks. Thanks, Elincia.”

Elincia’s eyes shut with her wide smile. She was pretty dang cute.

Nephenee forced herself to concentrate. “My dance… really ain’t a dance. I mean it. You kinda just—” Nephenee kicked her legs up high, trying not to snort at how Elincia’s cheeks brightened— “mess around. You just lose yourself in it.”

“Hmm… I can do that.” Elincia rested a finger against her chin. “It’s a shame there’s no campfire.”

“Eh, we can do that some ‘nother time.” Nephenee held out her arm. She wasn’t much taller than Elincia, only by a few inches at the very most, but she felt significantly taller when Elincia took her arm with a beam and looked up at her.

“Just - go for it?” Elincia awkwardly thrust out a leg. The fabric of her yukata caught a bit when she went too high, and were it not for Nephenee’s arm, she would have gone tumbling. “Oh - dear!” She laughed, tucking strands of lush green hair behind her ear. “It seems I was a bit over eager!”

“It’s just your outfit, don’t worry.”

Despite her own words, Elincia was quick to get into it. She was the kind of person, Nephenee thought, who could adapt to anything and everything in a short amount of time. This was no exception. Nephenee could tell that she was a bit reserved at first, understandably so. How strange must it be, for a queen - for anyone of royalty - to be told to forsake all of their training for dance and to just go into it? To lose yourself and let yourself be wild and do whatever?

Eventually, though, when Nephenee started herself, Elincia soon got right into it. Indeed, it was a long while before they stopped for a break, and that was only because Elincia’s face had become brighter than a flush tomato, her fringe sticking to her forehead. She had foregone her crown today, and even the absence of it made her entire being look lighter.

“This is - so wonderful!” Elincia gasped out in-between panting breaths, her hands gripping both of Nephenee’s so tightly that she could shatter bone. But her smile was so _sincere_ and kind, and the heavy bags under her sparkling eyes had suddenly vanished, and her entire body was trembling a little bit out of excitement. “I’m a bit out of breath, goodness!”

Nephenee said nothing. She stood there, smiling back, and was thankful to the goddess for bringing such a wonderful, lovely, _radiant_ person into her life.

“Wanna go again?” she asked once Elincia had gotten her breath back.

“Of course!” Elincia tugged on her hands, laughing, and the two of them went into a cacophony of sound and sight, of slamming boots and fluttering clothing and raucous laughter.

It was the most enjoyable dance Nephenee had ever had.

**Author's Note:**

> [i have a twitter!](https://twitter.com/greenpiggles) i'm gonna be posting more fics for fe femslash month, so feel free to check it out~
> 
> kudos and comments are always greatly appreciated, thank you so much! <3 have a wonderful day!


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